Antioxidant Gel Preserves Islet Function After Pancreas Removal

Northwestern University scientists have developed a novel antioxidant biomaterial that someday could provide much-needed relief to people living with chronic pancreatitis, according to a new study published in Science Advances.

Before surgeons remove the pancreas from patients with severe, painful chronic pancreatitis, they first harvest insulin-producing tissue clusters, called islets, and transplant them into the vasculature of the liver. The goal of the transplant is to preserve a patient’s ability to control their own blood-glucose levels without insulin injections.

Unfortunately, the process inadvertently destroys 50-80 percent of islets, and one-third of patients become diabetic after surgery. Three years post-surgery, 70 percent of patients require insulin injections, which are accompanied by a list of side effects, including weight gain, hypoglycemia and fatigue.

In the new study, scientists transplanted islets from the pancreas to the omentum — the large, flat, fatty tissue that covers the intestines — instead of the liver. To create a healthier microenvironment for the islets, the investigators adhered the islets to the omentum with an inherently antioxidant and anti-inflammatory biomaterial, which rapidly transforms from a liquid to a gel when exposed to body temperature.

Guillermo A. Ameer, ScD, professor of Surgery in the Division of Vascular Surgery and the Daniel Hale Williams Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering, was senior author of the study.

Caption: This image shows transplanted islets (darker purple) and the blood vessels (the red/dark pink areas are blood cells inside the blood vessels). Courtesy of Guillermo Ameer, ScD/Northwestern University.